Court orders hunger-striking detainee back to hospital

Detained American-Egyptian activist, Mohamed Sultan sits behind the bars of the accused dock during his trial on June 23, 2014 in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Sultan, who has been detained since August 2013 for participating in the sit-in at Rabaa-Al Adaweya Square supporting Morsi, is on hunger strike for 147 days.(AFP PHOTO / STR)

His trial has been postponed to 8 July, when the court will hear eyewitness testimony, and the defence will further examine confiscated material, according to Al Shorouk newspaper.

Soltan is accused, alongside other detainees in the case, of involvement in a range of activities, including forming an operations room to direct the Muslim Brotherhood. They also stand accused of defying the government during the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in dispersal, and “spreading chaos in the country,” said a statement by Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat on 3 February.

A fixer and former press liaison for the Muslim Brotherhood, Soltan was arrested last summer during the violent dispersal Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in that saw former President Mohamed Morsi’s removal.

Ragia Omran, a lawyer and a human rights activist, attended Soltan’s trail on Monday, saying: “Soltan arrived to the hearing in a police car and not an ambulance.”

“He didn’t receive any medical care even though he suffers from high blood pressure and low blood sugar” the activist quoted the detainee’s father as saying. Omran added that doctors in the Manial Teaching Hospital “refused to fake the medical examination, which caused them to be interrogated [by their superiors].”

Soltan’s father, Salah Soltan, a prominent leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, issued a written letter published online asking the international community to intervene to save his son. He said that his son “has been in prison for nine months with no clear charges”, adding that his son’s deteriorating health conditions “might cause sudden death at any time.”

Lately Egypt has been witnessing a harsh crackdown on journalists. On Monday, three Al Jazeera journalists were handed harsh prison sentences based on accusations of aiding a terrorist group and threatening national security.